The Compromise of Online Assessment Integrity among Technical Vocational Education and Training College Students: An Instructor’s Perspective

Conferring qualifications on individuals who have cheated in their assessments compromises the quality of education. Since academic cheating is prevalent in various colleges and universities, the aim of this study was to propose mitigation strategies to optimise summative assessments in Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges and circumvent academic cheating. A qualitative approach was adopted, and data were collected by means of face-to-face semi-structured interviews with 10 lecturers who regularly invigilate examinations and mark examination scripts. The findings show that numerous students cheat in the examination, which undermines the education system as qualifications can be conferred on non-deserving individuals. New technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence and a variety of social media platforms, are said to motivate cheating behaviour. This study proposes the use of technology to combat such unbecoming behaviour.